2005 FAST 50 WINNER

Dave Morgan, 41

CEO and founder
Tacoda Systems Inc.
New York, New York

Your vision of the Internet may have evolved over time, from a medium that would transform your life to a great place to find Pez dispensers. Advertisers’ vision–to deliver more relevant ads to consumers–has remained stubbornly the same. And elusive. Dave Morgan’s behavioral-targeting technology for online advertising went from “evangelizing and proving to fulfilling” in 2004. Behavioral targeting is the science of delivering ads to people based on their Web-surfing behaviors, not just what page they’re on. That may sound a little creepy, something Morgan understands. “This has to be done anonymously to be valuable, and it has to deliver value to consumers in the form of more relevant ads and less clutter,” he says. Advertisers are getting on board: Morgan tripled his customer base in 2004. The New York Times Web site and others are now clients. Web surfers’ embrace has yet to come.FCS